The number of homes that experienced price cuts jumped 24.2 percent in September compared to the same month last year, according to a monthly review of multiple listing service listings in 26 major markets conducted by national online brokerage ZipRealty.

The share of price-reduced homes rose for the seventh straight month in September. Sellers cut asking prices on 2.1 percent more homes last month compared to August — a total of 323,316 homes. Meanwhile, total inventory rose 0.6 percent from August and 13.6 percent from September 2009 to a total of 675,872 homes. The share of discounted homes is therefore 47.8 percent, up from 43.8 percent in September 2009 when 260,358 homes had experienced a price cut.